The Chicago White Sox certainly do not have high hopes of making a deep run into this year’s postseason. After the worst season in MLB history last year, this season is all about rebuilding a culture and finding the identity of the team. Chicago has a young core of minor leaguers coming up through its system that will all hope to make a huge impact when they eventually make it up to the major leagues.
A player who is not a member of that young core and will likely be moved for more prospects at this season’s trade deadline is left-handed pitcher Martín Pérez. Pérez is a 14-year veteran who will almost certainly find his way onto a team looking to make a postseason push. If that is the case, here are three trade destinations for Pérez that would get him out of Chicago and into a place where he would have a chance to be on the playoff roster.
Boston Red Sox Headed into Friday’s games, the Red Sox are tied for No. 20 in team ERA at 4.17, the New York Yankees being the other team with that same number. Pérez’s 1.59 ERA is lower than four of the five starters in the Boston rotation, with Garrett Crochet being the only one with a better mark. Pérez could join the Red Sox rotation as either a starter or a long reliever/swingman type. Whichever one it may be, the veteran left-hander would be a solid addition to the Boston staff.
Los Angeles Dodgers The Dodgers always need more pitching, right? With a rotation full of players with injury history (Tyler Glasnow, Dustin May, Blake Snell and Clayton Kershaw) the reigning World Series champions are almost certain to look to add pitching at the trade deadline. Pérez is a reliable arm who has made 20-plus starts in every season since 2016 (excluding COVID) and he would be the exact type of arm that manager Dave Roberts would love to have running out to start Game 3 or 4 of a series after the likes of a Yamamoto or Sasaki. Texas Rangers
This one takes Pérez back to where his major league career started. Of his 14 seasons in the big leagues, nine of them have come with the Rangers, including the best season of his career in 2022, when he earned his first and only ever All-Star game nod, and a World Series championship in 2023. Outside of Jacob DeGrom, the Rangers have a lot of inexperienced pitchers such as Kumar Rocker and Jack Leiter. A veteran like Pérez would be a beneficial addition for both sides and he could try and capture one last championship before he calls it a career.
